Beginning Our Fourth Century With A Bang!

The  Revitalization of Beaufort, SC

 There is no higher honor than to be the Mayor of one’s hometown, an office I have held for the past twelve months.  I love the job and look forward to serving the community for the next three years ofmy term.

While I had a lofty vision of how to grow our small town the “right way” before the election and was ready to go on the first day, the realities of the economic crisis distracted me from working on that vision for a few months. 

The good news is that our unified City Council and very strong financial staff have been making the best of tough times. We acknowledged challenge as opportunity, looked for solutions outside the box, made changes as we learned to do some things differently, and we are getting more done with less.  Fortunately, the City is in pretty good shape while leaders in some communities continue to be frozen like deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming care, waiting for someone to rescue them.

Notwithstanding this slight setback, I firmly believe the stars are aligned to demonstrate how the City of Beaufort can grow “the right way.”  

Some small historic towns sacrifice livability and diversity becoming museums, dependent exclusively upon tourism.  Others refuse to grow, become unable to sustain themselves economically and eventually die as shabby monuments to their past. And finally, others lose their souls to uncontrolled growth and inconsistent development.   These are not options for the beautiful town I am fortunate to call home. 

 Though the Mayor’s legal responsibility is limited to leading the City Council in setting policy, I have assumed a much larger charge . . . . fostering partnerships with our College and University, many non-profits and other government officials throughout the county.  Refusing to lead with both eyes on the rear view mirror, we are seizing the opportunity to create a new tomorrow and leave an even brighter future for those who follow

On January 17, 2011, Beaufort will celebrate its Tricentennial.  Buttress the importance of this “juncture” with the renewed community spirit emerging across the land and we have a unique and timely opportunity to re-launch necessary growth.

A little background. 

Beaufort’s population is just about 14,000, with a median family income classified as low to moderate, and half of its residents are renters.  Surrounding the city are some 50,000 more prosperous and resourceful residents, many retirees, who call Beaufort their “hometown” and use the city every day though they do not support it with tax dollars.  The city has seen little growth and the influx of tourists does not sustain its central core.  A key part of the city is failing, while lack of cohesive planning has resulted in cookie-cutter strip malls around its periphery.

 We must re-energize the city to grow, focusing on neighborhoods within the core city. Furthermore, we must understand that improving the quality of life for those who live in Beaufort makes us more attractive to those who visit and those who may one day relocate here.

The following are some preliminary steps for a revitalization plan we must have underway by 2011.

• Grow the downtown area: Create a “virtual- model” to demonstrate appropriate mass and scale within the commercial Historic District. Create an “idealized build-out” delineating opportunities for preservation, redevelopment and infill for residential, office and retail and to understand future requirements for parking, open space, and alternative modes of transportation.  And then incent redevelopment.
• Save and grow the deteriorating and partially abandoned residential center city whose residents are predominantly elderly since young families moved elsewhere.  This requires saving historically significant structures while demolishing others; ensuring low income residents rise with the tide, rather than being swept away; helping them embrace rather than run away from the financial, design and maintenance challenges of preservation; maintain ethnic and economic diversity; and recruit stores/businesses to return to the neighborhood; launch “community building” initiatives starting with a community organic garden and neighborhood association. One of the outcomes will be a community based urban design center.
• Transform the campus of USCB into the Beaufort College of Art and grow it through partnerships our local schools and with some of the nation’s finest arts institutions by offering a “Semester of Art in Beaufort.”  
• Help Beaufort Memorial ospitaHospital and Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, working with The University of South Carolina, Beaufort and the Technical College of the Lowcountry, to grow their wellness programs so that Beaufort can become a “wellness destination.”
• Continue to better manage the City’s assets in new ways, while engaging the citizens to march forward with the necessary changes.
• Encourage green technology while demonstrating how historic preservation is ecologically preferable to new construction.  Demonstrate alternative energy solutions by installing solar roof tops and hot water systems and creating local incentives for doing so.  Create even more user-friendly bicycle routes and encourage walking.
• Establish an Institute for Leadership, Community Service and Partnerships to train nonprofit organizations to more productively engage a very large and talented retiree population and to structure community service activities for students and others.
• Enhance “Heritage Tourism” within the Historic District and the Gullah Geechie Corridor (established by the US Congress) to create longer quality visits for tourists.
• Create a more transparent and inclusive government by better informing and engaging the talents of our diverse citizenry. 
• Work with adjacent communities and the many that live outside the city limits to find funding for a world class art museum and Civil War / Reconstruction Museum that captures and interprets our unique past.

Though Beaufort is a small city, it is a world class hometown for those who live here. It is my hope that we will build on our rich history rather that trying to become another place simply to attract new residents and tourists.

Ambitious?  Of course!  Accomplishable?  YES!  The future t hangs in the balance and the time to act is now!

 Billy Keyserling

Mayor of Beaufort

News Release

For immediate release
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009
Contact: Scott Dadson, Beaufort City Manager, 843.525.7070
Beaufort seeks new members for City Redevelopment Commission

 
Beaufort city leaders are seeking nine people from across the county who are entrepreneurial, understand deal-making and have experience with public-private partnerships to lead the reconstituted Beaufort Redevelopment Commission.

“This is a critically-important group that will help shape the economic future of the City of Beaufort,” said Scott Dadson, Beaufort city manager.  

The Redevelopment Commission consists of nine members, all appointed by the Beaufort City Council. Until last month, the City Council members were on the Redevelopment Commission.

The Beaufort Redevelopment Commission is a separate and distinct body politic of the State of South Carolina. The Commission is charged with researching and recommending redevelopment projects within the city of Beaufort; coordinating, reviewing, and recommending redevelopment plans for projects to City Council; facilitating negotiations necessary for the execution of redevelopment plans; and overseeing project implementation.
 

Commission members don’t have to live in the Beaufort city limits, but should be able to work well in a board setting and have a working knowledge in one or more of the following areas:

1. Planning, architecture or land use principles and permit processing procedures and related regulations.
2. Principles and practices of organization, administration, budgeting and personnel management.

3. Financial procedures and regulations pertaining to loan management, real estate and property improvements.
4. Strategic management
5. urban development and design
6. real estate negotiation and appraisal;
7. contract administration;
8. finance, economics, economic development and accounting;
9. project budget development and administration;

 10. neighborhood preservation and development,
11. workforce housing,
The Redevelopment Commission of the City of Beaufort is charged with the planning for and execution of plans for the regeneration of and redevelopment of assets in the city to help boost the city’s economic condition.

For the past year, great effort has gone into developing a new long-range comprehensive plan to guide the city’s growth. The Vision Beaufort 2009 Comprehensive Plan is available online at http://visionbeaufort.blogspot.com/. Chapters and links are on the right side of the screen and include videos, documents, maps, charts and narratives.
The plan includes a special section – Chapter 12 — that identifies eight “catalyst sites” and presents conceptual development plans for how those areas could be developed or redeveloped consistent with the principles set out in the plan, City Planner Libby Anderson said.
Meetings are held the first Thursday of each month at 4 p.m., typically at Beaufort City Hall on Carteret Street downtown.

 To apply for a seat on the Redevelopment Commission, download an application at www.cityofbeaufort.org under “Boards / Commissions” and follow the directions on the application. For more information, call Libby Anderson at 525-7011.

 Please feel free to contact me, other Council Members or the City Manager if you have questions.  

 Billy Keyserling

Thank You, Beaufort!

When I first thought about writing this column, my inclination was to share excerpts from angry and threatening letters I received from out-of-towners attending a political rally here who were upset that the City of Beaufort required them to have a permit to use our waterfront park, to pay a bond that is returned when the park is left clean, and to abide by business license requirements for vendors in accordance with state law. Why should out of towners expect the City to treat them differently from the many other groups who respect City and State regulations whose sole purpose is to keep the park orderly, safe and clean?

Instead of misinformed criticism from their political podium, a more appropriate action I would have been a thank you to our city police officers and county EMS personnel who were there to ensure public safety and maintain order so their event would run smoothly. 

But, after thinking about an earlier column I wrote about refusing to let negativity infect the fresh air in Beaufort, I changed my mind and decided to write about positive and pleasant things I see getting done in Beaufort.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, and as I approach the end of my first year as Mayor, I decided to use this coveted newspaper space to thank those who have worked side by side to make our hometown an even better place. 

I have a long list and am likely to miss a few, or not be able to fit all into the space allotted. Accordingly, I will talk about groups rather than individuals and I ask those inadvertently left out to understand.

I want to express my whole hearted thanks to:

• The residents of Beaufort who bestowed upon me the honor of serving as Mayor of my hometown and have been open to the many changes we have explored and the few we have implemented.
• My colleagues on City Council for their support and team spirit which drives Beaufort forward in difficult times.
•  The City’s Senior Managers for their financial expertise, out of the box thinking and guidance that showed us how to make changes necessary to ensure quality services with less money during the economic downturn.
• Each member of the City’s dedicated staff who has had to work a little harder and perhaps a little longer each week, while displaying the flexibility required by change and fewer resources to do an even better job. I would be remiss if I did not mention our police officers, firefighters, public works staff, department heads, administrators and their capable staffs. 
•  The Northwest Quadrant Task Force whose contribution is already reaping huge results.
• West End and Northwest Quadrant residents who have organized neighborhood associations and leaders from the Pigeon Point, Old Commons and The Point Associations who have helped them develop into viable working committees.
• The Southside Park planning committee for their investment of five or more years planning a park and for patiently waiting until funding is in place to help realize their vision.
•  Port Royal Town Council and Beaufort County Council members who side by side with the City, after three years of negotiations,  agree where and how northern Beaufort County will grow in a more cooperative effort without annexation wars and without the combative spirit of past years.
•  USCB, TCL, Beaufort Memorial Hospital, Beaufort Jasper, Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, the YMCA and DHEC who are working with me and the Mayor of Port Royal towards exploring broader and more aggressive approaches to community wellness toward the goal of making Beaufort a healthier community and ultimately a wellness destination.
•  Historic Beaufort Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Good Neighbor and many others whose collaborative efforts to preserve neighborhoods in Beaufort earned us The Preserve America Designation.
• The Beaufort Three Century Project, whose members and participants have invested much to help us better understand our community’s past so we can have a clearer vision for the next century based on what Beaufort was like over the years.
• The Friends of Hunting Island for the organizing the community’s celebration of the 150^th anniversary of the treasured light house.
• The Arts Council, Beaufort Orchestra, Beaufort Performing Arts, USCB Festival Series and the Beaufort County School District for making arts and culture a signature for our small but culturally rich community.
• USCB for committing to revive The Beaufort College as an arts focused college in downtown Beaufort.
• Mainstreet Beaufort and the City Redevelopment Commission for assuming leadership in addressing current downtown parking needs and planning for the future.
• The United Way and associated agencies who are struggling through the financial crisis to rally the resources necessary for our many social service agencies in times when funding is the principal challenge.
• Downtown merchants who, with help from Main Street Beaufort, USA and the Chamber of Commerce, reviewed every single directional sign coming into and out of Beaufort and Port Royal with recommendations the City will soon submit to SCDOT.
• The many unsung heroes on the City’s Boards and Commissions, who give tirelessly of their time and skills to review projects, make recommendations for improvements and move them through the process.
•  Beaufort Jasper Water and Sewer Authority for purchasing the Port Royal right of way which creates the opportunity to one day have a linear park reaching from Port Royal to Yemassee and to County planners for their foresight in seeking federal funding for its construction.
• Waste Pro and The Greenery who have proven to be great partners going out of their way to provide exemplary service in their new assignments working with the City.
• And finally the many area residents who, even though they do not live in the city proper, support our merchants, restaurants, civic and social service agencies and promote and fund our cultural assets.

To those I have not had the opportunity to tell face to face, I want you to know that I have loved my first year as Mayor and want to remain as accessible as possible and play my part in leading our community forward as we work together to create a future that will be very special for those who follow us.

I hope that all of us will take a few minutes during this Thanksgiving season to thank one another for our collective positive spirit during the past year.

That is My Plan!

Billy Keyserling